Mission Compromised by North Oliver & Musser Joe

Author:North, Oliver & Musser, Joe [North, Oliver & Musser, Joe]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: thriller, Adventure, Suspense, War
ISBN: 9780805425505
Amazon: 0805425500
Goodreads: 598081
Publisher: Broadman & Holman Publishers
Published: 2002-09-28T07:00:00+00:00

It was almost 1600 by the time Newman and the Macklin brothers traversed the seventy-eight kilometers from the airport in Muscat to arrive at the front gate of the SAS compound. The base was situated on a desert plain with stark, sheer mountains to the north and west. The mountains made access from the outside almost impossible unless an infiltrator was willing to brave days of wearying, thirsty travel by foot. An aggressor would be discouraged on other approaches as well—first by an ordinary wire fence surrounding the place with numerous “no entry” and “no trespassing” signs in Arabic and English. And inside that fence was the real deterrent: a twelve-foot chain-link fence topped by coils of razor wire. Newman noted video cameras and sensing devices—infrared motion detectors, sound detectors, and alarms that would sound if someone tried to cut the fence links. As a final disincentive, the innermost fence was lighted and electrified with enough volts to kill anyone who touched it.

Newman nodded with approval at the security measures and handed his passport to the guard at the gate. Harry volunteered that Newman had an appointment with Colonel Kensington, the base commander. The vehicle was waved through, and the captain drove to the main headquarters building. As he approached the building, Harry explained that this was where the main contingent of SAS men were housed. It was spartan—little more than plywood barracks—but it was still better than what Newman's ISETs were assigned to. Weiskopf had sent an encrypted e-mail when the ISEG had arrived, reporting that his thirty-eight men were billeted in three hardback tents, large canvas enclosures that provided shade but little else. They were sauna-hot during the day and nearly freezing at night, Weiskopf said.

The British captain led Newman inside the building. It, too, was austere. The building was air-conditioned, but for the sake of the communications equipment, not the personnel. Newman could hear a diesel-powered generator humming somewhere in the distance.

Colonel Richard Kensington was prompt for the meeting, something that immediately endeared him to Newman.

“I understand you're trying to break the British record,” the Colonel said, smiling.

“British record?” Newman asked.

“Yes … you know … those chaps back around 1880 who went around the world in eighty days, don't you know. Seems you want to do it in thirty hours.”

“Well, I didn't quite make it. I think I've spent at least that much time in the air, but I've still got a trip to … to the north of here.”

“Yes … well, I know your time is brief, so let's get right to it, shall we?” The colonel handed Newman a glass of ice water. “You chaps would rather have tea, I would guess, but in Her Majesty's service, we consider putting ice in good tea to be a sacrilege.”

Newman smiled. “Thank you.”

“I'll give you the tuppence tour.” Kensington stood and walked toward a large map on the opposite wall. “As you can see, this is one of seven SAS bases here in Oman,” the colonel said, using a pointer on the topographic map.

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